Author Topic: Planting out Sweet peas  (Read 3141 times)

Digeroo

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Planting out Sweet peas
« on: January 14, 2021, 11:11:05 »
I sowed my sweet peas on Christmas Day and now three weeks later they are four to five inches tall and I am beginning to prick out the growing tip.  The advice seems to be put plant them outside after frost.  But I would like to plant them outside sooner and reuse the roottrainers.
So if I cover them under
 bottle cloches when could they go out?  I have very free draining soil so soggy soil is not an issue.  I managed to get sweet corn through -2 last year by putting a 2 litre bottle over one litre bottle to double glaze them,
So when do you think I could plant them out?  They have already been going out during the day for wind and rain therapy. 
I should really like the root trainers at the beginning of March.

Tee Gee

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Re: Planting out Sweet peas
« Reply #1 on: January 14, 2021, 12:20:23 »
Its something I have never done but on reading your predicament the first thing that came to mind was to transplant your plants temporarily into a 5" pot (or bigger) and place them in a cold frame until the ground begins to warm up again.

JanG

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Re: Planting out Sweet peas
« Reply #2 on: January 14, 2021, 14:26:27 »
I think sweet peas are surprisingly hardy. They will survive mildish frosts gamely. I’m pretty sure they’ll be fine planted out. I certainly don’t wait till mid May before planting out. More like late Feb or early March.
The bottle cloches are probably a wise precaution to guard against transplant shock. You could perhaps graduate to a skirt of fleece, or something like that, for a while after that.

saddad

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Re: Planting out Sweet peas
« Reply #3 on: January 14, 2021, 15:51:18 »
Only just sorted mine out to sow this weekend!

woodypecks

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Re: Planting out Sweet peas
« Reply #4 on: January 15, 2021, 16:06:48 »
I agree with Tee Gee , I would put them into larger pots if you really need those root trainers for something else . You need to acclimatise them gradually . I sowed mine into a large tub outside where they are to grow about the end of November , the wigwam canes are pushed in and I wrapped it up with fleece to protect from the winter gales .Mine germinated and were up on Christmas Eve !They are quite tough in the cold but the wind could snap them .  They are about six inches tall now . I was just wondering when to sow a second lot to  give me a second flush of flowers and thinking maybe not until March/April .  :blob7: I love Sweetpeas !  :sunny:  :wave:
Trespassers will be composted !

Digeroo

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Re: Planting out Sweet peas
« Reply #5 on: January 15, 2021, 19:42:08 »
The bottle cloches also protect against wind and the deer and the rats etc etc.   The wind is a issue, my allotment site if very windy.
My seedlings have been going outside during the day when it is warm enough.  So they will be well hardened off by the end of March.
Thanks JanG I will try it.   Thanks Woodypecks I that not thought about the wind.  I can easily give them some wind protection. 
I have got some more seeds for a second batch.   So I think I might put one set of root trainers outside, one pot on,  That will free up two root trainers one for sweetcorn/ snow peas and one  for even more sweet peas.   I also have some very fine micromesh which might do a good  job protecting them.  The rats do not like it.  I think they get caught in it. 


saddad

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Re: Planting out Sweet peas
« Reply #6 on: January 18, 2021, 08:07:30 »
At least ours are sown now!

Digeroo

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Re: Planting out Sweet peas
« Reply #7 on: January 19, 2021, 20:25:54 »
I have one small group of sweet peas in toilet rolls.  So I am going to put them outside with bottles over them and see how they get on.   If they survive then I will try some of the ones in the root trainers.   It is nearly four weeks since they were sown, and some of the rolls have signs of roots coming out of the bottom.  The cardboard is going soggy, so I think now is a good time to put them out.  Maybe next Tues or Wed then nights are warmer.    One problem is that we have deer, so I do not want to provide them with a nice meal.  They have been chewing my chard plants.
I have also bought some more sweet pea seeds, I fell in love with Erewhon.   I hope they are a pretty as the pictures.  And Matucana'which is supposed to be one of the best for smell.

JanG

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Re: Planting out Sweet peas
« Reply #8 on: January 20, 2021, 01:08:11 »
I just grow Matucana every year and save the seed from one season to the next. I love its dark flowers - purple and deep maroon-red. The scent is very good too.
So I can thoroughly recommend it. I hope you enjoy them too, and that they escape the attentions of any marauding deer. Good luck with your first planting out. Hopefully the bottles will be enough protection. And I imagine they won’t grow beyond the tops of the bottles for quite a time.

Digeroo

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Re: Planting out Sweet peas
« Reply #9 on: January 21, 2021, 11:50:20 »
It is nice to think of the Matucana as an investment. 
I have now put some sets of sweet peas out.  They were four to a  toilet roll.   So each four plants now has a  bottles.  Supposed to be cold tonight so they might get a bit of cardboard as well.  They have been out most days for a week or so now.  But in the bottles they are out of the wind, and most of the plant is below soil level.   I shall keep an eye out on the weather. 
It will be interesting to see how they do.  The garden is more sheltered than the allotment. 


Digeroo

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Re: Planting out Sweet peas
« Reply #10 on: January 22, 2021, 13:28:54 »
I planted some out yesterday - big mistake, it was a lot colder last night than I was expecting.  However, I seem to have got away with it.  Each toilet roll set of 4 peas has a 5 litre plastic bottle over the top and a cane to hold it in place.  And I pulled the soil up round the bottles, so the plants were mostly below soil level.  The bottles were completely covered with ice this morning and the lawn was completely white.  But inside the plants are totally happy and are now enjoying the sunshine.  It will be interesting to compare them to the ones I am still taking in at night. 
I have read they are hardy down to -5/6C.  But I do not think they got that cold, the leaves did not look frozen.  But tonight they will have a fleece on as well. 

Paulh

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Re: Planting out Sweet peas
« Reply #11 on: January 22, 2021, 19:17:41 »
Perhaps life would be easier if you sowed them a month later?!

I know why you want to get things going but I'm resisting the temptation because I will have (late) frosts to contend with and not enough space for large plants indoors.

My looming problem is where to chit my potatoes as with four adults now living here, there's no longer a spare room that can be kept cool any more.

Digeroo

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Re: Planting out Sweet peas
« Reply #12 on: January 23, 2021, 21:22:16 »
I wanted something to take my interest.  I have not been very far since before Christmas.  And I am hoping for super early sweet pea flowers, before the soil dries out too much. 
I should be in Egypt on my summer holiday and then sowing when I got back.  I should be swimming in the sunshine, snorkelling, walking along paths lined with Tacoma Stans, eating fresh strawberries and courgettes and broadbean farafal. 

 

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